Actinistia

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Crossopterygii

The Actinistia, or coelacanths, unlike the Rhipidistia, have exhibited exceptional evolutionary stability. They evolved in the Middle Devonian (397–385 million years ago) and rapidly became specialized so that they looked very much like the modern coelacanths. They were thought to have disappeared 70–50 million years ago, but in 1938 a specimen was taken in the Indian Ocean near the...

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